News http://www.khronos.org News en-us jeff@khronosgroup.org Copyright 2026 2026-06-08T20:43:00+00:00 UWA Releases the Industry’s First Spatial Imaging Standards using glTF to Foster Ecostystem Development https://uhd-world-association.com/news/uwa-releases-the-industrys-first-spatial-imaging-standard-to-foster-ecosystem-development/ The UHD World Association (UWA) has published the industry's first spatial imaging standard for 3D Gaussian Splatting content, developed in direct technical coordination with the Khronos Group's 3D Formats Working Group.The standard addresses the lack of a common exchange format for 3DGS content by centering on glTF as its storage format, with compatibility for meshes and point clouds, and outer-layer packaging via MP4 and HEIF. It also introduces EGSC, a new codec delivering up to 30x compression with visually lossless quality on mobile devices.UWA and the Khronos Group have entered into a strategic partnership to develop globally unified standards for spatial imaging, jointly launching the CKAP China Graphics Working Group to promote standards coordination, including references to the KHR_Gaussian_Splatting extension and tool contributions. API, Khronos General, The UHD World Association (UWA) has published the industry's first spatial imaging standard for 3D Gaussian Splatting content, developed in direct technical coordination with the Khronos Group's 3D Formats Working Group.

The standard addresses the lack of a common exchange format for 3DGS content by centering on glTF as its storage format, with compatibility for meshes and point clouds, and outer-layer packaging via MP4 and HEIF. It also introduces EGSC, a new codec delivering up to 30x compression with visually lossless quality on mobile devices.

UWA and the Khronos Group have entered into a strategic partnership to develop globally unified standards for spatial imaging, jointly launching the CKAP China Graphics Working Group to promote standards coordination, including references to the KHR_Gaussian_Splatting extension and tool contributions.

]]> 2026-06-08T20:43:00+00:00 Making the invisible audible: Building an OpenXR experience for ocean protection https://www.collabora.com/news-and-blog/blog/2026/04/22/making-the-invisible-audible-building-an-openxr-experience-for-ocean-protection/ In this blog from Collabora, Colloabora introduces their work with environmental nonprofit SOMAR to build an open source XR experience that immerses users in the underwater soundscape of Portugal's Algarve, using real acoustic recordings to illustrate the harmful effects of human-made noise pollution on marine life. Built on OpenXR, the experience was designed to run on standalone headsets as well as Google Cardboard-compatible phone setups, maximizing accessibility for broader audiences. SOMAR has already debuted the application publicly to strong reception, using it as a hands-on advocacy tool with students, families, and the general public. API, OpenXR, In this blog from Collabora, Colloabora introduces their work with environmental nonprofit SOMAR to build an open source XR experience that immerses users in the underwater soundscape of Portugal's Algarve, using real acoustic recordings to illustrate the harmful effects of human-made noise pollution on marine life. Built on OpenXR, the experience was designed to run on standalone headsets as well as Google Cardboard-compatible phone setups, maximizing accessibility for broader audiences. SOMAR has already debuted the application publicly to strong reception, using it as a hands-on advocacy tool with students, families, and the general public.

]]> 2026-05-14T15:15:00+00:00 Vulkan SDK 1.4.350 Released – Updates for KosmicKrisp, 16 New Extensions, and Improved Tooling https://vulkan.lunarg.com/ The Vulkan SDK 1.4.350.0 is now available for download simultaneously for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Highlights of this release include major updates for KosmicKrisp, support for 16 new extensions, and ARM64X support for the GFXReconstruct capture layer. Overall, this maintenance-focused update brings tooling and platform-specific improvements while continuing Vulkan’s steady evolution. API, Vulkan, The Vulkan SDK 1.4.350.0 is now available for download simultaneously for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Highlights of this release include major updates for KosmicKrisp, support for 16 new extensions, and ARM64X support for the GFXReconstruct capture layer. Overall, this maintenance-focused update brings tooling and platform-specific improvements while continuing Vulkan’s steady evolution.

]]> 2026-05-12T16:30:00+00:00 Vulkan SC SDK Released https://www.khronos.org/blog/vulkan-sc-sdk-released-an-integrated-toolchain-for-vulkan-safety-critical-development The Khronos Vulkan SC Working Group, in collaboration with RasterGrid, has released the Vulkan SC 1.0.21 SDK, a unified installer for Linux and Windows that combines the Vulkan SC Loader, emulation driver stack, validation layers, device simulation layer, pipeline cache utilities, cube sample, info tool, and CMake and Pipeline Cache Compiler integration in a single package. The SDK replaces the previous process of installing and configuring each component separately, and offers optional automatic environment setup and Pipeline Cache Compiler discovery during installation. The installers are available now on GitHub. API, Vulkan SC, The Khronos Vulkan SC Working Group, in collaboration with RasterGrid, has released the Vulkan SC 1.0.21 SDK, a unified installer for Linux and Windows that combines the Vulkan SC Loader, emulation driver stack, validation layers, device simulation layer, pipeline cache utilities, cube sample, info tool, and CMake and Pipeline Cache Compiler integration in a single package. The SDK replaces the previous process of installing and configuring each component separately, and offers optional automatic environment setup and Pipeline Cache Compiler discovery during installation. The installers are available now on GitHub.

]]> 2026-05-06T13:05:00+00:00 OpenCL 3.1 is here https://www.khronos.org/blog/opencl-3.1-is-here The Khronos OpenCL Working Group has released OpenCL 3.1, moving a number of previously optional capabilities into the core specification. Conformant implementations are now required to consume SPIR-V™ kernels, and to support subgroups, integer dot products, a suggested work-group size query, and a device UUID query that matches Vulkan®'s. The release also includes clarifications to the memory model, event synchronization, and OpenCL C printf, among other refinements. Implementations are in progress from Arm, Imagination, Intel, Mesa, and Qualcomm, along with the Rusticl, PoCL, and CLVK open source projects, across desktop, mobile, and embedded platforms. Read the full announcement on the Khronos Blog, and if you're at IWOCL 2026, come talk to the working group. API, OpenCL, The Khronos OpenCL Working Group has released OpenCL 3.1, moving a number of previously optional capabilities into the core specification. Conformant implementations are now required to consume SPIR-V™ kernels, and to support subgroups, integer dot products, a suggested work-group size query, and a device UUID query that matches Vulkan®'s. The release also includes clarifications to the memory model, event synchronization, and OpenCL C printf, among other refinements. Implementations are in progress from Arm, Imagination, Intel, Mesa, and Qualcomm, along with the Rusticl, PoCL, and CLVK open source projects, across desktop, mobile, and embedded platforms. Read the full announcement on the Khronos Blog, and if you're at IWOCL 2026, come talk to the working group.

]]> 2026-05-04T07:02:00+00:00 Khronos Group Welcomes Esri as a Contributor Member https://www.esri.com/en-us/home Esri is the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping. Since 1969, Esri has supported customers with geographic science and geospatial analytics, what they call The Science of Where. Esri takes a geographic approach to problem-solving, brought to life by modern, enterprise-grade GIS technology. They are committed to using science and technology to build a sustainable world. API, Khronos General, Esri is the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping. Since 1969, Esri has supported customers with geographic science and geospatial analytics, what they call The Science of Where. Esri takes a geographic approach to problem-solving, brought to life by modern, enterprise-grade GIS technology. They are committed to using science and technology to build a sustainable world.

]]> 2026-04-29T16:50:00+00:00 OpenCL Cooperative Matrix Extensions Are Here https://www.khronos.org/blog/opencl-cooperative-matrix-extensions-are-here The OpenCL Working Group has published a draft extension (cl_khr_cooperative_matrix) that brings cooperative matrix operations — a key technology for accelerating ML inference — to OpenCL, developed in collaboration with Arm, Intel, and Qualcomm. A companion extension to expose these capabilities directly in the OpenCL C language is also in progress, and the community is invited to review both drafts and provide feedback before they are finalized. API, OpenCL, The OpenCL Working Group has published a draft extension (cl_khr_cooperative_matrix) that brings cooperative matrix operations — a key technology for accelerating ML inference — to OpenCL, developed in collaboration with Arm, Intel, and Qualcomm. A companion extension to expose these capabilities directly in the OpenCL C language is also in progress, and the community is invited to review both drafts and provide feedback before they are finalized.

]]> 2026-04-29T12:43:00+00:00 Meta Upgrades to Promoter Membership https://www.khronos.org/members/ We're proud to welcome Meta to the Khronos Group Board of Directors! Meta has upgraded their membership from Contributor to Promoter — our highest membership tier — bringing with it a seat on the Board and a deeper commitment to shaping the future of open standards. We're pleased to welcome Ron Bessems as Meta's newly appointed Director. Ron is no stranger to Khronos, having served as Chair of the OpenXR Working Group for years. His experience and leadership make him a natural fit for the Board. Learn more about Khronos membership API, Khronos General, We're proud to welcome Meta to the Khronos Group Board of Directors! Meta has upgraded their membership from Contributor to Promoter — our highest membership tier — bringing with it a seat on the Board and a deeper commitment to shaping the future of open standards.

We're pleased to welcome Ron Bessems as Meta's newly appointed Director. Ron is no stranger to Khronos, having served as Chair of the OpenXR Working Group for years. His experience and leadership make him a natural fit for the Board.

Learn more about Khronos membership

]]> 2026-04-15T17:36:00+00:00 New OpenVX Extensions Streamline Compute Workloads on Heterogeneous SoCs https://www.khronos.org/blog/openvx-extensions-unlock-computer-vision-and-ai-capabilities The OpenVX Working Group at Khronos has released two extensions developed specifically to address limitations that have long constrained developers building computer vision and AI applications on modern heterogeneous systems. These new extensions, Target Kernel and Node Command extension, both tackle problems that have grown more acute as SoC architectures have become more complex: efficiently distributing computation across dedicated hardware, and adapting processing pipelines dynamically at runtime without touching the data path. The functionality of both extensions will be included as core features in OpenVX 2.0, the next major API release. API, OpenVX, The OpenVX Working Group at Khronos has released two extensions developed specifically to address limitations that have long constrained developers building computer vision and AI applications on modern heterogeneous systems. These new extensions, Target Kernel and Node Command extension, both tackle problems that have grown more acute as SoC architectures have become more complex: efficiently distributing computation across dedicated hardware, and adapting processing pipelines dynamically at runtime without touching the data path. The functionality of both extensions will be included as core features in OpenVX 2.0, the next major API release.

]]> 2026-04-13T13:11:00+00:00 Khronos Adds Middleware Insights to the OpenXR Extension Matrix https://www.khronos.org/blog/khronos-adds-middleware-insights-to-the-openxr-extension-matrix The Khronos OpenXR working group has expanded its Extension Matrix to include self-reported data from middleware providers. The OpenXR Extension Matrix now includes middleware support data from Godot, LÖVR, StereoKit, Unity, and Unreal Engine — so developers can see exactly what's available across the full XR stack. API, OpenXR, The Khronos OpenXR working group has expanded its Extension Matrix to include self-reported data from middleware providers. The OpenXR Extension Matrix now includes middleware support data from Godot, LÖVR, StereoKit, Unity, and Unreal Engine — so developers can see exactly what's available across the full XR stack.

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